[Xerihae]

So why exactly are MUD's still so popular in these days of massive, graphical MMORPG's?

Is it the replayability, how every game is different every time you play because there's no set script and usually different characters every time around?

Is it simply because most of us who play MUD's see it as a free alternative to the pay-to-play graphical MMORPG's? (Which doesn't answer why people pay to play MUD's!

Does the sense of community generated by a MUD, because of the generally smaller amount of people playing compared to a "main-stream" MMORPG, draw people?

Is there just so many people in the world playing games that you'll always find plenty who prefer SOME type of game, for whatever their own personal reasons?

Do you find someones roleplay easier to imagine when you read it (like picturing the events in a book) rather than seeing them represented graphically on the screen (and hence, in the graphic designers own imagination of what it looks like)?

Are quests and events just far more frequent and better run on MUD's due to the smaller player base compared to those MMORPG's?

I'll post my thoughts on this later. I'm interested to hear any repsonses people have, as I thought it was an interesting question.

[mizelle59]

Easy. People are cheap, MUD's are cheap. It all works out

[jornel]

I voted for the cheap mmorpg theory - this accounts for why they come.

Why they stay is because of the sense of community that develops with other players over time AND because the game continues to remain a free mmorpg.

[Valg]

For the same reason I go to my favored bookstore about every two weeks, and pay to see only a handful of "major" Hollywood movies per year. Also for the same reason I don't make my book decisions by "Wow. This book sold a lot of copies. I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

[truthfulthomas]

It's easier to find a mud where you don't have to worry about getting gangbanged by a bunch of obsessive, emotionally retarded 13-year-olds with names like pullmyfinger and LeFtNuTz.

[Fuzzy Ewok]

I can only speak for myself, but for me it's about the roleplay. I just think the options are so much better in a well done roleplaying MUD. And I don't need to see graphics...I've got my imagination. Though setting does have some to do with roleplaying, I think the key elements are the players and the range of actions/emotions/beliefs that can be displayed and experienced. And that's where MUD's really shine through. And as for not seeing the setting, well done room desc's go a long way towards helping that, and then the imagination is more than capable of filling in the remaining spots.

[n_verto]

i mud purely to roleplay(except for when i hav this urge to kill things ) , so roleplaying was the choice for me.

[Chapel]

The reason is the same as when you watch a music video and then hear it on the radio, or in a car. When you hear it....when its only words describing something to you, your mind is forced to create the picture, making it that much more vivid.

If you are in a graphical game....you already see it...the mind has nothing to do.

...

[Ogma]

There's nothing to match the power and detail of the written word. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a well written description is worth several million pixels, and there several layers of detail which simply cannot be captured by any amount of multi-media glitz.

We're a few generations into the era of film, and movies have come nowhere near to replacing novels.

[Koryon]

I'm also voting for the roleplay is easier to believe, there's just something about being able to read words and turn them into an entire world in your head, this even disproves the cheap theory. Some of the most popular muds (not mentioning any names, I don't want to start anything) are pay muds, but for what they lack or don't lack, they are basically more "immersive" then the average stock mud.

(Of course, there's a certain ROM mud that disprovesthis theory, but oh well, wierd things happen )

[Xerihae]

Well since this seems to have run it's course I'll post my thoughts on the results.

The roleplay is easier to believe option won by quite a margin. Believe it or not this actually suprised me, since it was an option I thought up at the last minute. I suppose I can definately see everyones point, and my lack of ever finding any decent RP on a graphical game probably helps back this up as I've nothing to compare it to.

In a respectable second place is the sense of community. Now, is this the sense of community at a particular MUD, or the MUD community in general? I guess I should have been more specific. Still, I can see the answer being "both". I've always enjoyed being part of a MUD and working with other players and staff to make the game better, and since broadening my horizons a little I've found the MUD community in general to be a good thing.

They're free MMORPG's! Of course this is a factor, why pay for something when you dont have to? I've had more fun playing some of the MUD's I've been a part of than I ever did playing Ultima Online or Earth & Beyond. Admittedly I didn't pay for E&B as I was beta-testing, but still. The combination of the other factors in the list make MUD's a more fun place to be for me.

Quests are better run came next. I must admit I expected this to be a bigger factor. Quests tend to be so much better on a MUD with 50-200 people rather than an MMORPG with 1000's. Easier to interact with, happen more frequently, and the talent of some of the quest writers for creating interesting stories never ceases to amaze me. They ought to look some of these guys up for Dungeons & Dragons The Movie 2! (Maybe thenit wouldn't be as crap as it was).

I was extremely suprised to see replayability garner only one vote! If I had voted on my own poll I would have gone for this option. Why? Because unlike most games I buy for my PC, the games I've played over my MUD'ding career have kept me interested for YEARS. Always something new to do, and every time you get a character to the highest level and start again there are many new faces to RP with. I agree with all the other options, but for me replayability is the factor (based in many ways on the others) that keeps me coming back for more.

No-one voted for there being enough people to go round in the world to play any type of game. Curious, I would have thought this statement was partially true. I've met some people who enjoy the most atrocious games in my lifetime!

Well, those are my final thoughts on the subject. Many thanks to all those who took time to vote and post replies!

[Enzo]

I almost said the sense of community one, but I believe that ties in with the replayability. Everybody always says new things, so that just kinda flows into it. I love the fact that RP never has to be a cliche and everything cna be new and exciting. Leveling is the only thing that can seem like a repeat, but that's only if you suck at it (like me ).

MUDs are awesome. Xbox live is the only thing better then it in my opinion

[Nemene]

The people who play those atrocious games probably don't think they're atrocious

Although the vote's meant to have closed, I went for the most popular version for the same reason as most other people. It just goes to show that MUDs will probably remain popular until immature 13 year olds leave MMORPEGS, and they manage to get every set of actions you could want into them.

[Xerihae]

Originally Posted by (Nemene @ Feb. 15 2003,01:07) Although the vote's meant to have closed,

The vote isn't "closed" as such, I simply posted my thoughts since the voting seemed to have died down. By all mean continue to vote, as more votes tends to provide a better cross-section of people and a larger overall view.

[Steel]

Reasons I like text muds more than graphical muds:

1. You can do more stuff, and the GMs dont' have to program every sprite to do X for every new ability that comes out.

2. Definitly the book thing. The human imagination supports much more than 32bit color, thus creating a fantasy world with graphics is almost like ripping yourself off.

3. Ease. It's MUCH easier to do things in a text MUD than a graphics game. In graphics games you have to click on stuff and memorize hotkeys and stuff like that, unless they have a command prompt, then it might as well be text.

4. You know people. I don't know how, but you just get to know people better in text muds. Possibly because you see a name first, then you can look at the character for a description, instead of "Hey...that green mass of pixels over there. Is that XXXXX or one of the other 3000 green people?"

5. Creativity. Again, like #1, you can make things that would be impossible to create graphics for.

6. Creation ease. Not having to deal with graphics means GMS can get stuff out faster.

7. There's no way to do text badly, and even if you do, you can just find/edit. I've seen hideous graphics in games before, and i'm sure those are a lot harder to fix.

I'll think of more, I'm sure.